BULLS GET GERVIN, JORDAN UNHAPPY

The Bulls traded forward David Greenwood to the San Antonio Spurs Thursday for 6-foot-7-inch All-Star guard George Gervin. The Bulls also released guard-forward Rod Higgins in an unrelated move.

Gervin, 33, will be in a Bulls` uniform for Friday night`s season opener, and the Bulls are hoping the solution to their backcourt woes doesn`t cause more problems. Gervin missed Spurs` practices Tuesday and Wednesday--the second and third workouts he has skipped in the preseason--and incurred the wrath of both Spurs` owner Angelo Drossos and coach Cotton Fitzsimmons. When he showed up later Wednesday evening, he was fined. Drossos said he offered Gervin a chance to retire, but the guard turned that down.

''He had some major differences with Angelo and Cotton, obviously,''

Bulls` vice president Jerry Krause said. ''I don`t think we`ll have any problems with him. Stan (Bulls` coach Stan Albeck) had him for three years in San Antonio. Stan talked to him yesterday and he was very happy. He is glad to have `the Iceman` back.

''We feel we have acquired a guy who is a future Hall of Famer. He still has a lot left and we have solved a lot of problems in the backcourt with him.''

Gervin`s arrival in Chicago could create some problems between himself and Bulls` superstar Michael Jordan.

''I have no comment on the trade,'' Jordan said in an uncharacteristic brushoff. ''Just say I am unhappy.''

Jordan`s and Gervin`s problems stem from last year`s National Basketball Association All-Star Game in Indianapolis, when Gervin allegedly took part in a scheme to make Jordan look bad in front of 43,000 fans in the Hoosierdome and a national television audience.

There were reports that several members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team plotted to keep Jordan--an All-Star starter--out of the offense to teach the rookie a lesson in humility. In addition, Jordan`s teammates reportedly plotted to leave him alone when he guarded Gervin, refusing to help out on defense.

Krause said he is certain that once Jordan and Gervin begin playing together, past animosities and differences would fall by the wayside.

''These guys will be all right,'' he said.

Gervin is a nine-time NBA All-Star, the Spurs` all-time leading scorer and the ninth-leading scorer in the league. He holds the record for most points scored in a quarter when he fired in 33 against New Orleans in 1978.

''George Gervin has been a mainstay of this franchise for 13 years,''

Drossos said. ''It was a difficult decision, but we had to make it sooner or later.

''We`re not happy with making the deal. He has helped make the franchise what it is today.''

But Gervin`s differences with Fitzsimmons had reached the point where the coach told Gervin recently he could not promise him playing time. Gervin was going to be relegated to the bench behind Alvin Robertson and free-agent and ex-Bulls` guard Wes Matthews.

Greenwood, 28, leaves after six seasons as a Bull. He averaged 12.6 points a game in Chicago, but never played up to the potential that led the Bulls to select him second overall in the 1979 college draft. That was the year the Bulls lost the coin flip for the top pick to the Los Angeles Lakers and watched the Lakers choose superstar guard Earvin ''Magic'' Johnson.

Two years ago, Greenwood had perhaps his best season as a pro, averaging 12.2 points a game and finishing as the ninth-leading rebounder in the NBA. It was after that season that the Bulls thought Greenwood would become one of the better power forwards in the league.

Last year Greenwood held out for a bigger contract, eventually signing a three-year deal in November for an estimated $600,000 a year. The holdout impeded his progress, and despite encouragement from former Bulls` coach Kevin Loughery, Greenwood never regained the form of the previous year.

He complained of foot ailments that were eventually diagnosed as Achilles tendinitis. After the season, Greenwood was operated on by a doctor in Los Angeles to relieve the pain. He took care not to reinjure his feet in the preseason and thus had a slow start.

Greenwood averaged 17 minutes a game in the preseason, with 2.6 points and 4.6 rebounds a game. Gervin averaged 21 minutes a game in the preseason with 10.7 points a game, shooting 39 percent from the field.

Gervin wore No. 44 in San Antonio, the same as the player he is ostensibly replacing, Quintin Dailey, who is in Pasadena Community Hospital`s drug rehabilitation center.